


Cleaning Your Stress Away

by Lisa_Lisa



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: "Jesus Christ Connor!", Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Family Dynamics, Fluff, Free Day Prompt, M/M, Making Out, RK1K Week, Showers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-10 06:26:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17420780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lisa_Lisa/pseuds/Lisa_Lisa
Summary: Connor arrives late at home after solving a light triggering case. Markus is there to provide an unusual solution to relieve stress.Note: this story takes place after "A Dangerous Mission" fic, but it can be read as a standalone.





	Cleaning Your Stress Away

**Author's Note:**

> This was going to be written for the “ _RK1K week day 7, Showering Together prompt_ ”, but I still have a ways to go until achieving Headraline’s famous writing speed and couldn’t post it in time xDD So here you have the “ _RK1K week free day_ " :)
> 
> Also, for the ones who have already read my other fic [“ _A Dangerous Mission_ ”](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14907344/chapters/34528832), you already know who Dana is. For the ones who haven’t, she is a YK400 girl android whose appearance is [Alice’s initial concept art](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/5a/20/b3/5a20b3c03bfadbf5d60712d90f243df6.jpg), who has been adopted by Connor and Markus, and that’s the only thing you need to know to read (and hopefully enjoy) the story :P
> 
> Finally, the lovely, amazing [Amiko](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amiko/pseuds/Amiko) did this beautiful [drawing of Connor and Dana](https://66.media.tumblr.com/714d834f270a5c515fb96ed898dcd66b/tumblr_pna2mqyw261wabx0so2_1280.png) and of the [RK1K family](https://66.media.tumblr.com/aeb25a89f8927fde4bd215b95b4aa91a/tumblr_pna2mqyw261wabx0so1_1280.png). They are so beautiful!!! <3 <3 <3

Normally Connor liked when Hank drove in silence. Unlike those first trips during which Hank refused to talk to him for being against having a partner (human or android), now there was always a friendly atmosphere surrounding them even without spoken words, and sometimes, especially at night when Hank was tired after a particularly long day, it was rather nice to simply enjoy the trip back home without talking about anything in particular.

However, that night was different.

That night the silence that reigned in Hank’s old car was accompanied by a heavy tension, product of the case they had been called to attend just when they were going to go back home. A case that they had managed to solve but whose resolution had tarnished the chances of enjoying a calm Friday night.

“We are here, kid”

Connor snapped out of his thought when hearing Hank’s comment. He had been looking through the car window with an absentminded expression during the entire trip, even if it was so dark already that he would need to use his scanning module to actually see something, and he hadn’t even realized that the car had stopped some seconds ago.

“Right”, Connor said simply, opening the car door.

“Connor”

When Hank called his name Connor stopped mid-action and looked at the lieutenant. Hank signaled then with an imprecise gesture around his own stomach, which caused Connor to completely unbutton his uniform jacket in silence. When it was done, he offered Hank a tiny grateful smile that caused the lieutenant to pat his shoulder before finally stepping out of the car.

They walked in silence towards the house’s entrance, and the moment Hank used the key on the door Sumo began to bark from the living room.

When they stepped inside, the big Saint Bernard walked towards them happily moving his tail. Hank ruffled the dog’s head and palmed his back before carelessly throwing the keys on the small table next to the door. Sumo then walked towards Connor, and this one was impressed when the animal moved his head to the side and whined once softly, as if detecting Connor's less than ideal inner state.

“Good evening, Sumo”, he patted the dog’s head a couple of times, and smiled when the dog barked and rubbed its head against his thigh.

At that moment a set of steps sounded and Connor didn’t need to look to know that it was Markus coming from the kitchen. When learning that Hank and him were going to be late at home Connor had called Markus asking if he could be sooner at Hank’s home so that Dana wasn’t alone, since the girl was going to be with Alice and Kara in the afternoon but that night Kara, Alice and Luther were going to visit Rose, and as usual Markus had managed to fulfill his duty as deviant leader during the morning in order to be free from 6 p.m. onwards.

In fact it seemed that Markus had done more than taking care of Dana, since the apron he was wearing over his clothes and his rolled up sleeves indicated that he had been cooking not so long ago.

“Come on, kid, I told you I would-”

“…order a pizza, yes, you said that”, Markus completed, reaching behind him to unbutton the apron, “but you ate it yesterday. _And_ the day before. So I’ve thought that a different meal would be better for your health”

Hank snorted in clear disagreement.

“Great, now I have an occasional nanny in my home”

Markus chuckled, leaving the recently used apron on the closest chair.

“Sorry, lieutenant, a bad habit after having to fight with my father for his health day after day”

“Your father and I agree that dying healthy is bullshit, thank you very much. Can I at least have a beer?”

“Well, if you are asking for permission maybe it would be more recommendable that-”

“ _Like hell_ if I was asking for permission. You may be the deviant leader outside but here you are just that idiot’s boyfriend, kid”

The conversations that Markus and Hank used to have were always amusing, particularly when they both ‘fought’ to have the last word, and Connor found himself observing them as if he was looking a tennis match.

In fact, his stress levels had decreased considerably after being home, but he was still far from being in perfect condition, so he was a little naïve by thinking that Markus wouldn’t notice that, because when Hank and Markus’ conversation finished and the leader finally turned towards him, his bicolor eyes passed to show instant concern.

“Hey”, Markus approached Connor and softly grabbed him by his arms, “is something wrong?”

Connor knew by then that lying to Markus was pretty pointless. The deviant leader had always been intuitive but with Connor he seemed to have a sixth sense to know when Connor was trying to hide something (usually not to worry him), and to insist until Connor eventually gave up and confessed.

“The case was a little stressing”, Connor admitted, “but we managed to solve it so everything ended well at the end”

Markus’ expression when Connor finished talking told him that the leader was expecting a more detailed explanation, but such a thing had to wait because at that moment a set of new steps sounded and Dana joined them, already dressed in her new [Moana pajama](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/613tc9-wmAL._UY606_.jpg).

The girl android ran first towards Connor to hug him while saying a happy ‘ _Welcome home, dad_ ’, just before turning to Hank to do the same although calling him ‘Hank’, since the lieutenant didn’t want to feel even older by been called ‘grandad’, and Cole’s death was still too recent to be called ‘dad’ by anyone else.

Connor remained in the kitchen with the rest during the next minutes, his mood improving thanks to Hank and Markus’ almost constant bickering and Dana’s usual bright essence, but when Hank finally sat down at the kitchen table (after Markus managed to convince him with his usual insistence to let him serve the dinner) and Dana began to play with Sumo, Connor excused himself to enter in the bathroom.

Once inside, he leaned both of his hands on the bathroom sink and after taking a deep breath he looked at himself in the mirror in front of him. He gulped softly and after a couple of seconds he opened once again his uniform jacket.

Each button came loose with excessive slowness, as if Connor was unconsciously delaying as much as possible the moment to see what was under it, and when the jacket was completely opened his LED began to blink in a steady yellow color when he saw the fresh blue stain of thirium covering the front of his white shirt.

Connor detected his stress levels increasing when memories of what had happened a couple of hours ago invaded his mind:

Some neighbors had called to inform about fighting noises coming from one of the apartments of the block. That type of incident was, unfortunately, pretty common although relatively easy to solve, but Hank and Connor were ordered to take care of it because one of the neighbors commented to have heard some insults along the lines of ‘stupid machine’ and ‘useless robot’, which seemed enough to prove that one of the culprits of the ruckus was an android.

Connor and Hank went to the place. They forced the door of the apartment open and they confirmed the neighbors had been right. Two people were fighting in the living room. Or, more accurately, an AP700 android had been winning the fight against a middle-aged man for a while, for the way the last one was curled on the floor in a useless defensive posture against the deviant’s kicks.

After Hank managed to catch their attention with an angry: ‘ _Detroit Police, fucking stop right now!_ ’ while pointing his gun at them, the deviant stopped beating the man up. Connor didn’t need to perform a scan to see that the injured man who was in the floor was the deviant’s former owner. Also, it wasn’t necessary to be an advanced RK800 prototype to deduce what the deviant planned to do with the heavy-looking ornament that he was holding over the man’s head.

Immediately the deviant began to justify himself, explaining all the things that man had done to him and that he had been forced to stand because, at that moment, he didn’t even know to have the right to complain, not even when his life was at risk because, after all, he wasn’t alive to begin with.

Connor didn’t need to perform a thorough scan to know that the deviant was saying the truth but, as much right as he could be, he had still decided to choose revenge instead of going to them to try to denounce the man.

“ _Denounce_?”, the deviant said when Connor explained that to him, “what for? Some people don’t believe we are alive yet despite the President last speech, so denouncing him would have been pointless!”

As painful as it was, the deviant was right, because things may be changing for the androids for the better, but they were slow, too slow in certain aspects, so yes, probably some time had to pass until androids could denounce humans without being questioned.

Connor knew this. He was aware of how unfair certain things kept being for the deviants, but there was nothing he could do except keeping pointing at the deviant as Hank was doing, while trying to convince the deviant not to do something with no turning back.

At first really logical arguments began to easily escape Connor’s mouth, spelled in a studied calmed voice that was aimed at putting the attacker at ease, but at some point a specific memory broke through Connor’s convincing speech.

A memory that belonged to the time Connor was still a machine, designed just to follow orders and fulfill his mission without further question.

A memory of him in a rooftop, talking to Daniel and assuring him that everything would be okay, that he would not be harmed, that his conditions would be listened if Daniel _trusted_ him.

A memory that finished with Daniel being shot, and dying while pronouncing some last angry, desperate but above all betrayed words: ‘ _You lied to me, Connor. You lied to me_ ’.

Connor’s LED began to blink in red at that moment, what he could have achieved with his previous words being shattered in an instant because of his hesitation, so when the deviant decided to ignore both his and Hank’s warnings and made an attempt to let the ornament fall on the man’s head, there was just one thing Connor could do to prevent the man’s death and that that deviant turned into a murderer.

So he shot the deviant, making sure not to hit any critical points and just the ones who would make the deviant unable to move. Connor approached the fallen deviant then, kneeling next to him to help him incorporate against Hank’s recommendations until the rest of the officers entered, while pronouncing encouraging words even if the deviant’s eyes were just showing resentment towards him, and despite the words that the deviant began to spit.

‘ _You are worse than them. You are still a killing machine. You are not like us_ ’

Connor was still lost in his thoughts trying to force his LED to come back to its usual blue color when the door of the bathroom opened slowly and Markus slid inside, closing it behind him as delicately as he had opened it.

“Hey”, he said softly, remaining close to the door with his hands inside his jeans’ pockets, “Hank has told me what happened. How are you?”

Connor suppressed a gulp. If Hank had had time to tell Markus everything, he had been locked in the bathroom longer than he thought.

Also, he wasn’t surprised about Hank telling Markus everything. It wasn’t the first time that the lieutenant seemed to let something go and then Connor discovered that Hank had told Markus behind his back. However, he had hoped to have more time to assimilate what had just happened, and not having to try so hard that his voice sounded normal.

“I’m fine”, damn, his voice hadn’t sounded normal _at all_ , “well, my stress levels are still a little high but I will be okay in no time”

Connor looked at Markus through the mirror. The deviant leader hadn’t changed his expression but the long hum he exhaled was enough to let Connor know that he wasn’t buying it.

“Look, of course I would have preferred not having to shoot that deviant but I had no other choice. That human was going to be killed with a 86% of probability if that ornament fell on him, and the only way to prevent it was to shoot. And yes, I know that if I hadn’t failed in the negotiation in the first place shooting him wouldn’t have been necessary, but I made sure to aim carefully not to give him any permanent damage and-”

“Connor, I haven’t said anything”

Connor grit his teeth when hearing Markus’ soft comment, embarrassment invading him when realizing that he had been way too defensive with Markus, and that he had in fact talked way too heatedly when, as Markus had said, the deviant leader had not said anything at all. Except probably looking at him with way too much insistence.

“I’m sorry”, Connor muttered, averting his eyes from Markus’ ones, “I…can you give me a moment? I will join you when I finish washing this shirt”

Not waiting for Markus' answer Connor removed his jacket, opened the tap and began to unbutton his shirt from the top. He had barely removed two buttons when Markus approached him and settled a hand on his, stopping his movement.

“I have a better idea”

Connor observed with curiosity how Markus approached the shower Hank had recently decided to install on the bathroom. The lieutenant explained that the change was because the bathtub was too old, but Connor suspected that it was because Hank’s age was inevitably showing and he began to have difficulties of raising his legs to enter it.

A small smile tugged at Connor’s lips when remembering Hank complaining when Connor said his suspicions aloud, but it was replaced by a confused frown when Markus opened lightly the glassed door of the shower and reached inside with his arm to activate the tap, water beginning to cascade down.

“Go in”

Connor blinked once, slowly.

“With my clothes on?”, Connor was expecting some kind of ironic retort, so he was rather surprised when Markus simply nodded, “but you know that water is not enough to eliminate the thirium, right?”

Markus exhaled a patient sigh.

“Connor, do you trust me?”, Connor’s deadpan expression was enough answer because Markus continued, “then stop being stubborn and enter”

Still not very convinced Connor stepped inside the shower. He closed the glassed door behind him and the warm water began to fall down on him.

“And now what?”

Despite Connor’s light impatient tone, Markus answered with the same calm than before.

“Now close your eyes and stay still”, when seeing Connor opening his mouth again Markus rapidly talked, “and be quiet”

Exhaling a soft sigh Connor decided that it was useless to force an explanation out of Markus when this one chose to be cryptic, so he decided to simply trust the leader and did as Markus said.

At first Connor had difficulties in staying still, since a part of his mind couldn’t help to think that being fully dressed inside a shower while doing absolutely nothing was a waste of time, but after some seconds he found himself beginning to relax, the warmth inside the shower becoming more and more agreeable, the feeling of his wet clothes against his body being a little weird but not completely unpleasant.

However, at some point the almost complete silence of the room, just interrupted by the drops rhythmically hitting the shower floor, seemed to encourage Connor’s previous negative memories to come back at full force.

And then, at some point, Connor realized that his cheeks were not just covered by the artificial rain drenching his body, but also by unexpected tears that had begun to fall from his closed eyes, caused by the stress and frustration of the incident he had experienced before.

At that moment Connor heard a soft ‘pop’ sound next to him, but he didn’t deduce it was the shower door opening once again until Markus’ arms enclosed around him in a tight embrace.

Still with his eyes closed Connor returned the hug, his arms surrounding Markus’ also clothed body, but not much time passed until Connor separated and blindly searched Markus’ mouth with his, groaning softly when the deviant leader immediately tilted his head to the side to deepen the kiss, while softly guiding Connor to lean his back against the shower wall.

Now Connor knew why Markus had told him to enter the shower fully dressed. As much as Connor trusted Markus, he would have felt too vulnerable by simply staying still without clothes, too _naked_ in a wider meaning of the word. But with clothes, with something “protecting” him, he had been able to let out the frustration he didn’t know he had. Apparently, he still had a lot to learn when dealing with feelings.

When Markus’ mouth left his Connor immediately followed, trying to capture Markus’ lips again, but when he didn’t his brown eyes snapped open in annoyance, finding Markus smiling a little smugly at him.

“The shower wasn’t such a bad idea, was it?”

Connor chuckled with embarrassment, leaning back against the shower wall again while keeping his hands on Markus’ hips.

“No, it wasn’t”, he admitted, looking at Markus with curiosity, “but how did you know it was going to help?”

“Oh, I didn’t. But seeing you in a drenched shirt was one of my secret fantasies”

Connor began to laugh, not having expected the comment.

“And what do you think? Did I meet your expectations?”

He had said that to continue with the joke but the way Markus’ clear eyes glinted made Connor’s artificial heart skip a beat.

“No”, Markus leaned forward until their lips were barely brushing, “you clearly surpassed them”

Despite the urge Connor was feeling to dive forward and kiss Markus again he endured it, trying to adopt the same casual, seductive tone Markus was using.

“Well, I’m glad to hear it”, Connor’s hands began to travel up Markus’ front with calculated slowness, the drenched black t-shirt the leader was wearing now adjusted to his body in a way that his defined muscles were perfectly outlined against the clothing, “although I don’t stand a chance against ‘ _the Deviant Leader: the sexiest among humans and deviants_ ’”

All the building sexual tension was broken in an instant when Markus exhaled an annoyed groan and cursed, causing Connor to burst out laughing.

“I knew it was bad idea to do an interview for that magazine”

“No, it wasn’t. I have never seen Hank laugh so much since I know him”

“If it was _just_ Hank, but North and Simon haven’t forgotten it either. Even _Josh_ teases me sometimes about it”, Markus exhaled a resigned sigh, “although if I'm completely honest I can’t blame them too much”

Connor chuckled and (just a little reluctantly) he removed his hands from Markus chest and reached down between their bodies to grab Markus’ hands.

“So are you feeling better, Mr. I-have-to-be-forced-to-vent-over-and-over-again?”

Connor smiled softly when hearing the appellative and answered Markus’ question with a nod.

“I am. Still frustrated that my words weren’t enough to reach him, but I know I did the correct thing by stopping him from killing that man”

Markus nodded too, setting his right hand on Connor’s cheek.

“Yes, you did. And also bear in mind that what that deviant told you was probably out of fear. I’m sure he will realize that what you did saved his life. And if he doesn’t…”, Connor was surprised when Markus’ tone suddenly became ruder, “…it’s his damn problem. But don’t feel bad for the comments of people who don’t know shit about you, and _never_ feel guilty of doing your job because knowing how I know you, there’s no way that you do it wrong”

The warm the water falling over them was causing was nothing compared to the one Connor felt spread inside his system, after hearing Markus’ vehement words. It was funny how the deviant leader was usually calm and reasonable, but sometimes when Connor was involved his objectivity was considerably reduced. And Connor absolutely _loved that_.

“I mean, I know you can make mistakes”, Markus was saying, unaware of the way Connor was looking at him at that moment, “and maybe sometimes you won’t solve your cases as perfectly as you would like, but still we all know that you always give your best. And therefore even when you take difficult decisions they will be the best given the circumstanc-”

Connor interrupted Markus’ sentence with a sudden, deep kiss, and for the way Markus groaned it seemed that the deviant leader wasn’t expecting it. However, he was fast to react and didn’t waste any time in kissing back, interlacing Connor’s fingers with his own before suddenly pining them on either sides of Connor’s head against the shower wall, while diverting his mouth to Connor’s neck to lick it teasingly.

Connor automatically tilted his head to the side, willingly giving Markus a better access and shivering when Markus bit his pale synthetic flesh. He and Markus knew that he was more than capable to break free from Markus’ grip if he tried seriously, but Connor didn’t want to. He felt extremely good at that moment, and in fact he opened his legs invitingly, encouraging Markus to settle between them more comfortably as their kisses turned more desperate and passionate-

“I really hope that whatever you are doing there doesn’t take you much because I have to use the bathroom”

Connor knew that he should probably feel annoyed for having been interrupted when the best part was about to start, but he couldn’t help to begin to laugh, breaking the kiss and causing Markus to exhale a long, resigned sigh.

“Don’t worry, lieutenant. Your timing is impeccable”

Connor laughed again when hearing Markus’ ironic comment and after softly kissing him they both stepped out the shower.

Hank’s face when they opened the door was priceless. He opened his mouth, as if he was about to ask something, but eventually shook his head with resignation.

“You know what? I don’t need to know. And at least whatever you did seems to have lifted your spirits, son”

Connor smiled when hearing the barely concealed relief in Hank’s tone. He was about to reassure the lieutenant that his shower had been respected (at least for now) but just before he could talk Dana suddenly appeared behind Hank. The girl looked at Connor and Markus with initial stupor that soon turned into enthusiasm, which caused the three adults to get pale at the same time when understanding the girl’s expression.

“Dana, Dana, no, sweetie, listen, you shouldn’-”

But as so many other times Connor was amazed of how Dana managed to avoid him, Markus and Hank with way too much ease and slipped past them inside the bathroom, managing to enter the shower and activate it over her, all that in less than 2 seconds.

“Jesus Christ, Connor! That’s the example you _both_ give to her?”

Once again, Connor was pretty sure that being smiling like an idiot together with Markus was, evidently, far from being a good example, but seeing Dana laughing at her heart content while being fully drenched by the shower was something difficult to observe without feeling your heart, real or artificial, melt. Even Hank’s reproach had lost all his effect for the fond way Hank was looking at the little android.

“Come on, sweetie”, Markus said, stopping the water and rapidly enveloping Dana with a towel, “we should go before the lieutenant has to visit Sumo’s spot in the garden out of necessity”

The mentioned lieutenant glared at Markus but snorted with amusement when seeing the fake innocent expression the deviant leader was throwing at him while promptly abandoning the bathroom with Connor and Dana.

Connor was expecting the ‘ _Damn androids_ ’ exclamation that Hank snapped before the door of the bathroom closed behind him, but he couldn’t remove the smile from his face:

First, because they three perfectly knew that despite his protests, Hank had come to love them as deeply as they loved him even if the lieutenant would probably never say it aloud. And second, because despite taking it with humor Markus had looked clearly frustrated after having been interrupted in the shower, which meant that, knowing Markus as Connor knew him already, it wouldn’t pass much time until the deviant leader subtly suggested in that fake, casual tone of his to pay the bathroom another visit.

And obviously, Connor couldn’t be more looking forward to it.


End file.
